All posts tagged The Scarecrow

Although it’s set in a “dystopian fantasy world,” Chipotle Mexican Grill’s animated ad aim to address the real world subject of food production.

Created by Academy Award-winning Moonbot Studios, the animated film entitled “The Scarecrow” features a straw hat wearing scarecrow rebelling against his job in big agriculture to start his own farm stand.

“We’re looking to educate people about food,” said Chris Arnold, a spokesperson for Chipotle. “We’re dealing with very difficult issues, but we want to present them through the context of entertainment.”

The 3:23-minute ad, released last week, has been viewed 5.5 million times. The supplemental iOS game promoting sustainable farming, also created by Moonbot, has been downloaded 300,000 times as of noon Wednesday.

While the film has won some critical acclaim, it also has been met with some resistance in the agriculture community.

“I would be hard pressed to call it an education film,” said Charlie Arnot, CEO Center for Food Integrity, a non-profit that works with farmers and restaurants to educate consumers on the American food system. “Some of it is a bit of been there done that,” he added. Chipotle’s 2011 commercial, “Back to the Start” featured Willie Nelson’s rendition of “The Scientist.”

“The Scarecrow” was the brainchild of Brandon Oldenburg and Limbert Fabian, the short’s co-directors. The duo rang up Speakeasy to discuss the two-year project, big agriculture, and their love for “Willy Wonka” star Gene Wilder. Read More »

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.